Smart & Final

For over ten years I have shopped at this Smart & Final. The store was always clean and the selection pretty good. The prices were fair and I always felt like I was getting a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, during the last year, even though they have remodeled, this store has declined in many ways. The staff who use to be very friendly now just don’t care. They will bag your groceries and mix cold with warm items. I’ve been charged full price for items I picked up off the half off cart. If a new register opens they do not take the next person in line but whoever they feel like pulling over. Ladders are left in isles so that you can’t get to products. They stopped offering sugar-​free items for diabetics. I stopped buying dog treats at Smart & Final because they were out of them so frequently. It’s a hit and miss when I go to get Far East Spanish rice. Sometimes they have and other times they don’t. They don’t stock their produce correctly and they run out of regular fruits/​vegetables causing you to have to buy the higher priced organic equivalent if you really want that item. These annoyances I learned to deal with by only doing small shopping here. In December I went in to purchase Purina Moist & Meaty dog food. While scanning the shelves I noticed that the BUY BIG & SAVE BIG price for 36 pouches cost almost $ 5 more than if three 12 pouch boxes were purchased. When I filled out my survey later that night I brought this to their attention. How did they handle my feedback? First, I heard nothing back from them even though I provided by phone number. Then when I went in yesterday to buy dog food again I saw that instead of lowering the BUY BIG & SAVE BIG price they jacked up the smaller boxes by $ 2.29 each! I guess getting a pretty good deal is now a thing of the past with Smart & Final. Greed wins again but in the long run they have lost this long-​time customer.

Manager Nicole was super rude to me. After she rung me up she told to hurry up and get out. While I was on the floor I saw her yelling at her workers. She just stands around and acts like a jerk. She needs tone fired.

This store no longer carries manufacturing cream, so it’s dead to me.

Don’t like the layout or the atmosphere of this store. It feels sorta like a Costco but not as nice. The staff are okay, but they don’t seem to go out of their way to help you and the store is sorta hard to navigate.

+ Clean, well-​lit, safe.
+ Friendly employees! Once, I was the next in line, waiting for the cashier to finish up with the guest in front of me when from out of nowhere another employee swoops in and starts taking my stuff off the belt in front of me and ringing it up at the station over! Wow! I thought. How awesome is that service?! When I thanked her for taking care of me quickly and how it was really neat she did that, she replied the other guy really had to go on break. LOL. Okay, then… Missed that chance to at least make it look like I was getting great service. They still are really nice and polite. They don’t rush you at close, I learned one night where time slipped away from me and I didn’t know it was 10 PM until lights started dimming.
+ Neat selection. I like what they offer in bulk. Really good prices, if you shop the deals. Otherwise, still pretty good prices. Dude … they have 50 lb bags on onions. And smaller bags, of course, too. Lots of coffee options.
+ NEVER PACKED. I’ve come at all hours of the day and night, weekends and weekdays. Always virtually empty.

Do you like cheese? Do you like coffee? Well sucks for you if you don’t! Their cheese (32 ounces) is usually 5 dollars! You can’t beat that price! It occasionally goes to $ 5.59 which leads to some obscenities but it is much better than the $ 7 – 8 price you will find at most grocery stores. They also have every single coffee item you need; coffee grounds, coffee syrups and coffee filters.
I occasionally buy cookies from here because sometimes they have good prices.
Do not buy meat from here though. I bought meat once and it was spoiled. Stick to cheese, coffee and cookies.

For some reason I always thought Smart & Final was a Big Lots…
To my surprise my be told me this was a grocery store!
I live right around the corner so it’s even more convenient to run and grab things. I like how you can find a lot of their items in bulk and not have to drive into the terror parking lot of Bella Terra to get to Costco! They have a pretty good selection of wines and beer here as well. The prices are «meh», def cheaper than Albertsons or Ralph’s that I frequent down on Golden West.

Smart and Final has everything you need around the house and to eat. There’s a good selection of product and even better, a HUGE selection in their candy isle. I always leave with a box of Flipz chocolate covered pretzels that I never see in any other store. I’ve only seen small bags sold at other places. I noticed they even have the really big sized Thrifty ice creams that are sold at Rite Aid for less that $ 20. Great for birthday parties and events. I like that this grocery store is never crowded and there is always plenty of parking. Also, bring your own grocery bags or you can pay 10 cents per bag for your groceries.

watch out when you buy clearance items. I know stuffs that I bought would be slightly over $ 50 but the cashier told me $ 86. Found out 2 cans of dog food, it shows 2 pk. geezz so be careful. btw they are trying to save «bags»

I have been shopping at this biz for decades. I love smart and final, normally. I will out up a great review of my normal smart and final soon, just to be fair, but today, I am irritated at the owners of this particular location. You suck for taking away the bags. After I just bought a bunch of little stuff, I was informed that I would have to pay for bags, or have none at all. There was no signage saying that they were not giving out bags, and I absolutely will not be back to this location, just for that particular reason. I spend a lot of money at smart and final. I shop for 3 businesses in Orange County, as well as my personal goodies, and cannot believe I am not offered the convenience of a shopping bag. Not only that, but I’m not told until after I’ve picked everything out, and am ready to pay. WAY LAME! I will not be back.

Great Smart & Final store!
I first encountered Smart and Final when I lived in SF.
When I briefly lived in Huntington Beach, this was a super convenient store location.
They are open early and open late.
Really good quality produce.
I just wish they offered a greater butchered meats variety — lamb chops not loin chops, cube steaks, NY steaks, cheese blintzes in the frozen foods section, the meatloaf chopped meats mix of veal, pork, and beef.
Not their fault, popular with homeless peddlers begging money just outside the store.

I shop at Smart & Final every week. Today’s experience was frustrating. Some of their cashiers should not attempt to bag the groceries! I handed the cashier a bag for cold items and told her to put the frozen burritos and frozen chicken strips in it. She then tries to add non-​frozen items including hand soap. I had another bag with me for everything else but she had no clue!

It’s a regular smart n final but they have a really clean store and great selection of produce to select. Really convenient for me since it’s close to my job I can pick up anything quickly and I’ll be on my way

Great place to get odds and ends that you can’t find in the grocery store. Awesome for business owners too, because Restaurant Depot can be a hassle sometimes.
Sometimes they need more check stands open… and the produce should be checked a little more frequently.

This store has ongoing issues with a shortage of cashiers during peak hours. Or, really at any time, there is rarely more than 1 check stand operating at a time.
I was in the store 2days ago, I had to get an item that was only available at that store, as I waited in the one long line, with my one item, behind other shoppers with multiple items, they decided to open a new register.
A customer service no brainer, that all stores know, is to take the next person in line.
However, the cashier just selected someone else, 3^rd person in line. Unacceptable.
When I kindly mentioned this to her on my way out, there was no acknowledgement or apology.
No longer impressed with this place.

Super helpful staff! This was a 2 cart excursion… but, they were eager to help me to the car. All was done less than 300 bucks!!!

Im a regular… enough said

I manage vending machine at work for the convenience of everyone who needs a snack now and then. Visited This smart and final many times and always felt frustrated. Whom ever is purchasing stock for this store has little awareness of actual stock requirements. Often i find shelves without product and my most recent visit i need 4 items, 1 item was in stock, All items on my list are standard stock items in this store «Hypothetically» or rather pathetically they are not always in stock.
I have 30 minutes for lunch, 5 minutes of which i have to restock the machine and today I came back empty handed. two check stands open and 15 customers waiting. Last time i step into a smart and final. Good bye forever.

Nice, clean store and they sell Liberty Creek Cabernet wine… and its about $ 5 (For the larger bottle). LOVE that!!!

I was throwing a dinner party and needed to get some stuff and came to this location. The Plaza was kinda old and dated but as you walk in, it was clean and bright. The deals were displayed nicely and clearly. This location had so much produce and a good size «baked goods» section, it’s like walking into your local grocery store. The staffs were friendly and knowledgeable. I like going to Smart & Final for a few reasons:
1. They carry items that I sometimes don’t find at Costco, the industrial supplies that I like vs. Costco’s residential supplies.
2. I love buying their beef brisket slab when I’m making Phở Beef. I’ve tried so many briskets from local store, Asian markets and they are not as good and fatty as Smart & Final’s. You need a bit of the brisket FAT to make the broth really good and I only get it here.
3. They carry the novelty items that I grew up with, like some ice cream brands I had when I was a kid that you can’t find in the regular grocery stores.
The prices are fairly low for bulk buying so that’s super nice. This is now my «far» neighborhood Smart & Final store. Wish they didn’t close down so many near me but it’s worth the drive for a mean… kinda fatty brisket and ice cream!!!
See you guys soon.